Give one a try but be warned: Alaska doesn’t do dinky

Trial size products give you just enough to get a sense of an item, to try it out. If you like it, great, there’s plenty more where that came from. If you don’t, you didn’t have to invest much to give it a try. While most trial size items are small, Alaska doesn’t do dinky. But there are ways to give this great state a test run, to try out activities and even places in Alaska this month. Even without spending much time or effort, you can sample some of the very best. And chances are you’ll love it.
If the idea of fishing in Alaska seems daunting, try it on for size at the Downtown Soup Kitchen Slam’n Salm’n Derby at Ship Creek. If you have even a passing interest in fishing in Alaska, it’s an excellent place to start. The competition targets king salmon in Ship Creek, so fishing is smack in the heart of the city. No need for a big expedition, it’s easy to reach, gear rentals are practically on site and derby tickets are free. Competition runs June 13-22, and there are prizes galore. Rewards for large or specially tagged fish could reel in more than just salmon.

Kings put a flash of silver in the creek this month, and the sky over Anchorage will soon be purple, orange and blue. Well, at least for one day. Before you think this a multihued hallucination, check out the Color Run, set for June 14. Anchorage running races abound in June– the Mayor’s Midnight Sun Marathon sets off this month as well – but for a shorter course and a more festive run, this one is for you. The 5K course travels through stations where runners are doused with colored powders. Most runners cross the finish line looking like Jackson Pollock spiffed up the wardrobe from a production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

Color Run 2013 was a hit with Anchorage runners. The run returns again this year, on June 14. Roy Neese

The dreamlike dunes of Kobuk Valley National Park seem like a staggering paradox: a desert in the north of Alaska. Though it sits above the Arctic Circle, its most astonishing feature is great sand dunes. It’s crossed annually by a great caribou migration and holds signs of human habitation nearly 10,000 years old, but relatively few people visit the park. If you can’t make the trip yourself but still want a sample of the wonders it contains, you might instead trek to the Anchorage Museum for a summer exhibit called “Arctic Desert: Kobuk Valley National Park.” Opened in May, this photographic journey through one of the North’s lesser known – but no less beautiful – national parks will be on display until early September.
The facets of Alaska’s are rich and varied enough for all, so take the first steps with these samples, they just might start you on the road to discovering your own brand of Alaska adventure.